House of the Dead: Overkill - Nintendo Wii

The Nintendo Wii's gaming inventory is rather sparse when it comes to edgy, foul mouthed, shooters built to appease a mature audience. Curiously enough, SEGA has filled that void in an unprecedented way with a surprising entry titled 'The House of the Dead: Overkill".Resembling a classic shooter from the days of rampant arcade gaming, Overkill is an on-rails shooter that leads the gamer through various environments filled with hordes of blood thirsty zombies and demonic boss battles. Because of the nature of an on-rails game, the premise is simple: using the Wii controller, the gamer aims and shoots oncoming predators while the camera pans about in a predetermined manner.Because the Wii is anything but performance savvy, there are times when the frame rate becomes rather choppy; however, the game is stable for the most part and, oddly, video anomalies only seem apropos for a title that thrives on the nostalgic grindhouse panache.Of course, we couldn't simply call Overkill a take on the grindhouse theme without a cheesy script, some third-rate acting, and an over-the-top storyline. Fear not - Overkill features all of the above!From the game's opening sequence to its deranged conclusion, SEGA leaves no opportunity overlooked in its quest to create a cringe-inducing blood bath, reminiscent of the film genre it imitates. The quips are blatantly profane, the plot is about as rediculous as it can get, and there is no shortage of gory moments and animated pornography, to boot. It doesn't stop here.What grindhouse flick is complete without an equally ludacris soundtrack? Overkill satisfies this inherent need with a playlist which sports lyrics that will either make you chuckle in hilarity or blush like a prude.Make no mistake, this isn't just a zombie-killing survival game. Overkill is the real deal when it comes to all-out absurdity and makes no apologies for it. The gameplay is addictively simple (though the difficulty can be quite challenging), the presentation is pitch perfect for what the developer aimed to achieve, and the game provides for mindless fun when loading up another round of Mario just won't suffice.The level design is a collection of nighmarish environments, nicely put together to stir up a sense of uncertainty and danger, including a house infested with the undead and an amustment park, complete with flesh-craving clowns. Truth is: if you have witnessed it on film, odds are SEGA has re-envisioned it in the Overkill ... gore and all.If the 'M' rating wasn't evidence enough, parents should carefully consider this purchase if intended for a younger audience. There is a lot here that will, in most cases, be offensive. For the mature crowd who welcomes the aforementioned craziness, The House of the Dead: Overkill is a hidden gem on a platform teeming with family friendly titles. If you are the latter, I highly encourage the item. Couple it with the Nyko Perfect Shot, a dark night, and you have hours of fun awaiting you!

Ah, House of the Dead: Overkill. It's a rail shooter that involves blasting your way through hundreds upon hundreds of zombies. You and a friend can play as the unlikely duo of Detective Isaac Washington and some fed named Agent G. Together, you'll witness a pretty funny storyline that brings to mind various horror and action films of years gone by.The gameplay itself, for what it is, is pretty good. This is a very solid rail shooter. The camera movements are very realistic, the zombies look nice and disgusting, and the storyline is entertaining (even if it is laced with profanity all throughout). There are also boss battles to mix things up a little.One of the games more interesting features is the combo system. Basically, if you can shoot multiple zombies in a row without missing, you'll start to get combos. THere are many in-between, but the highest one you can get is a "Goregasm" combo. After that, you get one thousand points per zombie. If you can keep it going, you can rack up a massive score on each level. This also resorts in making more money for beating a given level. The money be used to upgrade your weapons or unlock some of the media on the disc.There are two main problems with Overkill that I see: 1) It's too easy. 2) It's too short. If either problem was reconciled, we'd have a pretty great rail shooter on our hands. These two factors work against each other in a way that compromises the overall quality of the game. You'll probably be able to work through each level on your first attempt. This would be fine if there were twenty or so levels. But with only the five or six that there are, the game could have used some good old fashioned Fake Difficulty extend its longevity.It takes about two hours to beat the Story Mode, at which point you can play a harder version of Story Mode again in Director's Cut mode. So, you've got about a four hour campaign there. There are some reasons to replay the main game after beating it, as you can try to unlock all of the music and remaining weapons, find all of the collectible brains in each level, or maybe just chase after that perfect run through a level. So, some reason to replay the game is there, but personally, I don't find the prospect particularly compelling.Outside of the main game, you've got some mini-games. One mini-game involves withstanding an endless horde of zombies (probably the best one). Another involves protecting civilians from zombies. The third one is just your run of the mill target practice game. They're all decent, but also pretty typical of what you'd find in almost any light gun game.There are some framerate issues. In the later parts of the game in Director's Cut mode, there are tons of zombies coming at you. The Wii just fails to keep up in certain places.One final pet peeve I have with this game: Sometimes, Zombies will strike you when you don't have control of your weapon. I had it happen to me three times. I don't know if it's a glitch or a gameplay feature, but it's decidedly not cool.I would recommend this game, but not if you somehow manage to find it for $50. The current rates on Amazon are pretty fair, though.